


the world was warm

by muddledhorror (orphan_account)



Category: Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party (Web Series)
Genre: Cold Weather, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Modern Era, Shopping Malls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:53:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/muddledhorror
Summary: H.G. and Lenore spend a tad too long at the shopping plaza and end up stuck there upon the announcement of a severe weather warning.
Relationships: Lenore/HG Wells, Wellenore
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21





	the world was warm

It was a daily occurrence for H.G. to yearn for the key to time travel. Oftentimes it was simply inspired by fervent curiosity, others by bitter regret. Presently it was leaning more towards the latter.

He and Lenore had been browsing through the mall all day, he had now come to realize. Surely they could have cut down on how long they spent in each store and the halls. Yes, poor time management was to blame for why they were still in the plaza and were consequently hearing a severe weather warning from its loudspeakers. If he was capable of time travel, he would go back and ensure they went home an hour before. The once gentle rapping against the rooftop was now transitioning into harsh banging: hail. Were anyone forced to leave the establishment and happened to receive an injurious or lethal blow to the head from a particularly large chunk of ice, that would be a losing law suit served on a silver platter and he was sure the mall didn’t want anything to do with that. Meaning everyone who happened to be there at 8:42PM were stuck (for _who knows_ how long).

Wells must have looked as nervous as he felt because Lenore suddenly perked up, squeezing his shoulder, “Don’t stress, H.G. I’ve always wanted to stay overnight at a mall, anyway— It’ll be supes cool! Like a sleepover but with more danger and consumerism.”

He let out an only somewhat strained chuckle at that, Lenore giving that specific smile she gave that always managed to make him melt in return.

“Perhaps... Perhaps you are correct. The store _does_ sound rather prepared for the situation.”

“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s go get something from the food court before they shut everything down.” She took his gloved hand in hers and started to lead the way, giving him a bit of a start and causing his falling into line to be quite jerky.

“O-Okay. That, ah, that makes sense. We seem to have skipped dinner during our visit.”

“Ugh, yeah,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder with her free hand, “I’m starving. But honestly I’d take time with you over a meal any day,” her sangria lips quirked into that smile again and he felt his face heat more than it had already from her words alone. He hoped he merely came off as cold; it wouldn’t be all that unrealistic with how frigid the mall was becoming from the hailstorm raging on outside.

“I would much prefer that you eat. Food is very important to, you know, to functioning.”

Lenore snorted, shooting him a glare that was more mischief than rebuke, “Yeah, well, It’s been a hot minute since I’ve gotten to see you so you’re just going to have to deal with your place on my priority list.”

She was right, it had been a while. He tended to get too nervous to approach her himself and typically ended up excusing himself from attending anything she invited him to on account of being busy or something else that wasn’t exactly true. What made this time different was he had absently picked up the phone only to find her on the other end, and when she proposed that they take a trip to a mall together he just couldn’t find it within himself to refuse. He hadn’t felt comfortable making up an excuse to her face— or voice, rather.

Really, he didn't feel comfortable making up excuses in general, by all standards he had a considerable preference for the truth. Perhaps it was because he wasn't a very good liar, his words always ended up wavering and falling flat (to a greater extent than they already did). But something told him it wasn't simply his disfavor of falsity that dissuaded him from lying to Lenore, but rather the fact that her presence opened him up. While he recieved her frequent teasing, as did everyone else, she also gave him genuine interest and didn't mock him on matters he thought important or in times of vulnerability. These were things he wasn't used to, and he supposed he couldn't help but unveil at their hand.

“My apologies,” he conceded, “College’s demands have not been very timely.”

Lenore scoffed, “Your dorm is like twenty minutes away! It wouldn’t kill you to hang out with me more than once in a blue moon— Although I’m sure that would be great for Edgar and his somber poet thing.” 

“Th-thirty minutes,” he corrected, continuing swiftly so the other could not interject, “But you are correct, I could afford to pay you all more visits.”

“That’s what I thought,” she smirked, seeming sated.

The rest of the walk to the food court was taken in comfortable silence, the loud sounds of hail and people scuffling about more than enough to fill the space.

Once they had arrived, he had mentally rehearsed what he was going to order seven times. A basic chili and black coffee, that was all. Eight times. He found coffee tended to calm him down more than it did wake him up like it did for other people, so he figured it would be an appropriate purchase with the current state of affairs.

“What do you want?” Lenore finally spoke up.

What did he want? What _did_ he want? Jarred, he swerved his head around to face her with confusion, “I— ah— What?”

“Earth to Goggles, I was asking what you wanted from the food court. I know you don’t like to order.”

“Oh. Oh! Thank you. Chili and a black coffee would be nice. And, uhm, I can pay.”

“Go ahead, I'll never reject free food.”

H.G. nodded, a little mechanically as he always seemed to go about doing things, pulling out his wallet and handing her what he inferred would be a sufficient amount of money.

Instead of the cash, Lenore clasped his shaking hand with both of hers, an electrical warmth barrelling up his arm at the contact.

She leaned forwards, whispering into the cusp of his ear and sending a shiver up his spine, "Like I said, don't stress. Everything’s going to be hella fine," she leaned back, voice returning to its normal volume, "Got it?"

All he could manage was a wavering "yes," soft-spoken voice growing ever-softer as Lenore plucked the money from his hands.

"Good."

Sometimes in her presence he felt as though he would combust, not being very good with social cues of any sort but all too aware of the feelings they elicited. Lenore was naturally flirtatious, he'd noticed, so he could never tell whether she was practicing her usual manner or advancing on him specifically. His whole being burned with the desire that his feelings were reciprocated, but reflexively shut itself down with the succinct reasoning that she would never take interest in someone like him. Besides, her last lover (a fellow named Guy, he believed) had died under tragic circumstances around a year ago and he didn't want to take advantage of her.

“H.G!” Lenore was beckoning him over to the counter, presumably to help her carry back the food.

He had hardly noticed her leave, being so engrossed in his thoughts. That happened occasionally, when got caught in a train of thought, he would tune back in to his surroundings and everyone would be gone or people would be there when they hadn’t been before. He supposed he had a tendency to hyper-focus.

Waving to her over the interspersed crowd, he made his way down and they carried their things to a spot on the floor on account of all of the tables being used up— It seemed a fair sum of others had followed their same course of action.

Lenore rolled the sleeves of her sweater to her elbows, wanting to avoid getting them dirty while eating. He would have normally followed in kind but didn’t want to sacrifice any warmth seeing as he was already freezing. Examining the other closer, he saw her cheeks and the tips of her nose, ears, and fingers were tinged with red— She must be freezing, too. More so, even, considering she didn’t have any overwear whatsoever whereas he did.

“Are you cold?”

Lenore looked up from her soup, flashing an amused expression. “Uh, duh. Aren’t you?”

He shucked off his fur lined coat, left in a button up and sweater vest, then draped it over her shoulders.

“I am, yes.” The frigid air penetrated his thinner clothing with ease, imploring him to wrap his arms around himself. 

She looked a tad shocked, like she didn’t know what to do with this new information, before her mouth curled into an grin he could only describe as sultry. Science fiction was his forte, not romance.

“Careful, I might just fall for you.”

He averted his eyes immediately, burning under her gaze despite the cold, “I-I-I don’t believe you are in any danger of that.” The sentence was punctuated by something vaguely reminiscent of a laugh. 

Lenore huffed a laugh in return, the sound definite in its identity, “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“Quite the contrary, I believe you give me too much,” he popped open his container of chili, fumbling with the attached plastic silverware to get a spoon.

“Come on, you don’t really think that do you? You’re, like, totally kissable.”

At that he did look back up at her, eyes wide, “...Really?”

She seemed to be becoming smugger by the second, “Totes.”

Then his eyes were back to the chili— Or anything that wasn’t Lenore, really. They skittered all around the food court, like frightened rats, grazing over a hundred people he’d never know and shoe-scuffed linoleum.

He swallowed, fiddling with his spoon and deciding to take a bit of a risk, “Let’s say, h-hypothetically, that was true,” he dared to look back at her, “I still know very little in regards to romance, I am certain my surely more well-versed partner would become frustrated.”

Her eyes twinkled now, playing into his indirect scenario, “I imagine she would think it’s cute, you don’t necessarily have to be skilled in the art of romance to catch someone’s eye.”

Suddenly his collar was feeling very tight and he adjusted it, “Oh— w-well, regardless, I’m not all that captivating. More often than not I am obsessing over or engaging in the invention of literature and machines, which does not strike most’s fancy, so to speak. I have additionally been told my persistent rambling on the topics can become i-irritating. I don’t want y—m-my partner feeling stuck. Like they are only with me because I am available. For instance, we are not here in a plaza during a hailstorm because we would like to be, it is simply because it was accessible when the bad weather came by.” 

He felt like he could be sick. He was... He was worried that if Lenore did ever reach out to him, it would bonny be to get her over Guy. Then, she could leave him and fall in love with someone better. Everyone he’d ever been with (which wasn’t a lot of people, mind you) had always grown bored of him— He feared Lenore would do the same. He knew he himself could never grow bored of Lenore, that he would love her even after his life had slipped away. So he didn’t want to be a one-off ordeal, it would break him. Wells could be fragile like that. 

“She could have been in love with you for a long time, you don’t know,” she answered coyly, tugging his coat around her tighter and evoking a twinge in his chest. “Besides, I enjoy your nerd rants. And if I had to be stuck in some lame ass mall with anyone, I would def prefer it be with you.”

Their gazes lingered on each other on that note, and he soon found he was far closer to her than he had been before.

“D-Do you really think I’m kissable?” His voice was just barely audible enough so she could hear him and he stifled another shiver. As for whether it was at the fault of the cold or their closeness, he wasn’t entirely sure.

“Do you want me to prove it?” Her eyes, framed perfectly by thick black lashes, flicked to his lips and back.

“Please,” he breathed.

And then, for a moment, the world was warm and he believed her when she had said everything would be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> I busted this out in the middle of the night on a whim, so please forgive any careless errors. Also notable: this is my first time writing for Poe Party! So please feel free to critique anything you feel I misrepresented or otherwise.


End file.
